Domain broker Ryan Colby of Outcome Brokerage is to host what is believed to be the first domain “hackathon”, and says he already has domains he estimates as being worth $3 million submitted for the event.

Codemology, as the conference will be called, will be held over two days in Charlotte, North Carolina, in October.

The idea is to bring the owners of premium domain names together with angel investors and young, skilled developers, with the hope that some workable business ideas might emerge.

“We are trying to utilize the ‘excess capacity’ of premium domains in the marketplace, which are just sitting there doing nothing, oozing with potential, waiting for the next killer idea,” Colby told DI today.

Over the weekend of the event, the goal will be to create a bunch of “minimal viable products” for each selected domain that could be developed further.

It’s a free event, but attendees need to go through an application process before being given tickets. Colby said he’s marketing the event at university students and those who regularly attend hackathons.

The list of domains that will be used has not been finalized yet, but Colby’s clients have already submitted at least four pretty terrific one-word dictionary .coms.

Domains in new gTLDs will also make an appearance.

“If you’re a domain owner, why not submit it to the kid from MIT who might have a winning idea? There’s no risk, and huge upside if something comes about,” Colby said.

The developers keep the IP rights to whatever they code during the event, he said.

“It’s up to the domain owner to choose to collaborate, buy their IP or walk away,” he said.

Colby said he’s working on an app that will allow people to vote on domains that have been submitted, with the most popular ones being used at Codemology.

He said he’s hopeful of running similar events in other cities after the Charlotte conference.

Rightside is to run a promotion that will discount renewals on premium names down to .com prices.

From May 16 to June 30, if you buy any of the domains that Rightside has marked as premium — except the super-premium “Platinum” names — the wholesale renewal fee will be just $10.

Registrars will mark this up according to their own pricing models.

Normally, the price you pay at the checkout is the price you pay every year after that.

The deal is overtly targeted at domainers.

Rightside said: “At these reduced prices, you’ll have more time to find the right buyer for any domains you register, and incur lower fees to transfer to them once you do. If you’re looking to add high-quality domains to your portfolio, this will be the time to do it.”

The reduced renewals only apply to names registered during the six-week window, but they do pass on to subsequent registrants if the domain is sold.

Rightside is calling it a “first-of-its-kind” promo, but in reality it’s just a temporary regression to the once-standard industry model.

Remember, prior to the 2012-round gTLDs, only exceptions like .tv charged premium rates for renewals.

Premium renewals are now very commonplace, but are by no means the rule, in the new gTLD industry.

For Rightside, the offer means the company may experience a brief cash windfall as domainers, who generally hate premium renewals, take a chance on the registry’s names.

There’s also a potential marketing benefit to be gained from having more domainers on board as unpaid salespeople.

But it does rather suggest the premiums are not flying off the shelves at the rate Rightside wants.

The company recently disclosed that in the first few months of the year it made revenue of $674,610 selling 1,820 premium names, leading to an average price of $372. Twelve five-figure names had been sold.

Over its portfolio of 39 gTLDs, Rightside has flagged over 964,000 as premium, or about 25,000 per TLD.